Feds cracking down on synthetic pot in Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Federal prosecutors have announced a broader crackdown on central Missouri businesses that allegedly sold synthetic marijuana.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Friday that four businesses and nine people were indicted earlier this month on charges of conspiring to distribute products that often are labeled as “incense” but actually are intended to be used as a marijuana equivalent.

The indictments were not announced until Friday because of the previous partial federal government shutdown.

Three of the people named in the newly publicized indictment are the adult children of a Columbia man who U.S. attorneys announced on Thursday had also been indicted in a $2 million synthetic marijuana scheme.

Two of the businesses in the indictment are located in Columbia, with one each in Jefferson City and Eldon.